


Independence Day

by SleepyEye



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 03:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17859203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyEye/pseuds/SleepyEye
Summary: Robin's Divorce Party





	Independence Day

**Author's Note:**

> Not edited, written in about two minutes, just a straight-up emotion dump.

“Where’s Robin?” Cormoran asked. Ilsa looked around hazily.

“She’s not here?” she slurred. The house was full, and the body heat of the human crush made the room stifling. There was a crash and a shriek, and loud drunken laughter.

“I should go see what that was,” Ilsa said, too wasted to be really concerned. The sign reading “HAPPY DIVORCE DAY, ROBIN” was now hanging from one thumb-tack. The piñata with Matthew’s face taped onto it had long since been beaten open and leftover candy was littered across the floor. Nick was on the kitchen table, singing karaoke to “I Will Survive” as Eric Wardle and Robin’s roommate Ned cheered him on. Vanessa was teaching basic self-defense tactics to Lucy and April. Martin Ellacott had come up for the occasion, and he was flirting heavily with Robin’s friends from Krav Maga. Barclay, Shanker, and Alyssa were on the front porch, passing a blunt back and forth. The cops at the party were all either too drunk to realize or to care. Somebody had spilled beer across the sofa, and there were rings on the coffee table.

The divorce had been a battle for the ages: Robin’s lawyer had told Ilsa in confidence that he had never seen a husband fight so dirty over a marriage that had been barely a year old. Matthew came at Robin with an army of lawyers who took her to pieces, demanding that she repay Matthew for everything he had given her during their marriage: the rent, their anniversary dinner, their honeymoon plane tickets, date-nights, restaurants, movies. he wanted it all back. Matthew tried to wear Robin down, but she was made from tougher stuff than Matthew had ever fathomed. She had held her ground for a year and two months and ended almost entirely triumphant. Matthew had even agreed to pay her a small amount of alimony, for as long as she remained unmarried.

One of Robin’s Krav Maga friends let out a high-pitched shriek, which made Cormoran’s head throb. He felt rather sick, and wished he hadn’t eaten so much cake. He grabbed his heavy wool peacoat and made his way outside, narrowly avoiding a twerking Krav Maga woman. 

It was brisk outside, a relief after the stuffiness of the house. He stood on the back porch and lit a cigarette. It was cloudy, and a thin film of mist sparkled in the porch light. 

It took him a moment to realize that he wasn’t alone. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, he made out Robin’s silhouette in the garden, reclining on one of two adirondack chairs. Her bare shoulders were white in the gloom, and Cormoran imagined that she’d be freezing. He stubbed out his cigarette and made his way down towards her. She turned at the sound of his footsteps, but didn’t say anything. He sat down on the chair next to her.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Robin had a bottle of rosé, and she took a heavy swig. “How’s my party going?”

Cormoran considered.

“Insane,” he said. 

“Mm.” 

“You cold?”

“Yeah. Don’t want to go back in to get my coat, though.”

She was wearing jeans and a sleeveless silk top. Since the divorce, Robin had stopped wearing makeup and cutting her hair, and had started wearing it in a long braid down her back. She had put on some weight, and started wearing jeans and flannel shirts more often. Cormoran thought that lately she had looked more beautiful than ever, soft and strong and real, although he would eat nails before he ever admitted it out loud.

Instead he took off his coat and passed it to Robin.

“You don’t have to-” she started.

“Nah, it was stifling in there. I’m warm.”

“Well. Thanks.” She put it on and burrowed her nose into the heavy wool. “Have they noticed I’m gone?”

“They’re too far gone to notice anything at this point.”

Robin sighed.

“I know they meant well,” she said, “but…”

“Yeah.”

“All this stuff about me being free and all that. It’s just bullshit.” She took another heavy pull at the bottle. “I know I’m well shot of him. I know that. But it still hurts.”

“I know.”

“It hurts so bad.” Her voice cracked, and Cormoran felt for her hand in the dark. Robin took several shuddering breaths. “He cheated, and he was a prick. But he was my best and only friend for so many years, and now I’m just…” She pantomimed pulling her heart out of her chest. “I’m just empty.”

“I know.” Cormoran wanted to pour himself into her, to take her sadness onto himself, to fix her hurt. Instead he just squeezed her hand. “I know.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I broke up with my boyfriend of two years yesterday. I still love him deeply, he's my best friend, I'm just no longer attracted to him (or anybody, really. I'm dead inside. Thanks, Vestibulodynia.) He's been wonderful and understanding, it's a super amicable split, but still absolutely soul-crushing for us both.


End file.
